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Photo of Gwen Stableford and Al Murray - Click to enlarge
For Immediate Release: February 1, 2008
Contact: Lynne Richmond
(609) 633-2954

(TRENTON) – For 90 year old Gwen Stableford of Summit, her love of horses came at the age of four when she was put on her first horse.  That love of horses and her commitment to the state’s equine industry led to her being named the 2007 New Jersey Horseperson of the Year.

Stableford was presented with the 2007 Governor’s Trophy on January 27 at the 51st Annual New Jersey Breeder’s Dinner in East Windsor, which celebrates the state’s best in the equine field.

“Gwen Stableford is an accomplished equestrian and a premier volunteer whose efforts have enhanced the New Jersey equine industry  ,” said New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Charles M. Kuperus.  “For all of her years of service and her love of horses, she is a fitting recipient of the industry’s highest award.”

Stableford has shown and won with her American Saddlebreds and Hackney ponies all over the country and was founder of the American Saddlebred Horse Association of New Jersey in 1968.  She has served as club treasurer since 1980 and treasurer for the Middlesex Horse Show and the New Jersey Horse Council since 1989.  She also represents the American Saddlebred Horse Association of New Jersey on the New Jersey Equine Advisory Board.

Last year, Stableford celebrated her 90th birthday and also retired her Hackney pony, Ali.  She recently purchased a four-year-old Hackney pony, Heartlands Elegant Touch, who she will be showing this year.

“My secret to staying young, active and healthy is to eat healthy, stay involved with horses and horse organizations and ride my stationary bicycle 20 to 30 minutes each day,” said Stableford.

Other awards presented at the Breeder’s Dinner were:

Secretary of Agriculture Award for the New Jersey Standardbred of the Year:  Snow White won all but two of her 13 starts in 2007, capturing most of the major stakes in her division.  She was named Two-Year-Old Trotting Filly of the Year by both the United States Harness Writers Association and the Harness Tracks of America.  She set a two-year-old world record for either gender of 1:52.4.  The daughter of Self Possessed, who stood at Kentuckiana Farms of New Jersey, races for Harness The Power of Viola, DE, the nom de racecourse of trainer Kevin Lare and his wife, Suzanne; the trio of Joseph Petrosky, Curtis Larrimore and Mark Stonesifer, racing as the North State Street Stable of Dover, DE, and Jerry Silva of Bellmore, NY.

Secretary of Agriculture Award for the New Jersey Thoroughbred of the Year: Four-year-old Pure Disco, bred in New Jersey by her owner Patricia Generazio, won five stakes races in 2007, including the $100,000 Revidere Stakes during Breeders’ Cup Week at Monmouth Park in October.  Pure Disco is a winner of nine races in 24 career starts.